Pool House with Classic Architecture

Full of romance and charm, this pool house is a masterpiece in miniature

Slide 1 Of Pool House with Classic Architecture

Werner Straube

Architects often call them follies—backyard structures with fanciful details that add romance and charm to a property. New York designer Marshall Watson took the folly concept and gave it a Swedish spin, creating an elegant pavilion pool house with Scandinavian influences at the Missouri residence of Bill and Amy Koman.

Watson guided the Komans through the renovation of their historic 1920s St. Louis home. After adding a backyard swimming pool, the Komans wanted an outdoor structure to link the pool with a spacious back lawn and to provide a comfortable place to simply relax. “The pool house is such a predominant piece on the property that it really needed to have a strong presence and be a mini version of the house,” Amy says.

Watson took cues from the formal Georgian architecture of the old house, designing a symmetrical limestone-and-brick structure with a slate roof and making the folly look as though it were built in the 1920s or ’30s. “The pool house’s limestone facade is almost a direct copy of the back facade of the house,” Watson explains, right down to the pilasters and carved Masonic motifs that trim the exteriors. “I did elongate the arched French doors, however, so they’re much taller than those on the main house.”

The three sets of 10-foot-plus-tall French doors on opposite sides of the pool house create a charming pavilion effect when all are open. Set at the yard’s midpoint, the fanciful building acts almost like a passageway, connecting the pool with a lower-level lawn on the far side of the structure.

Gustavian influences are evident in the interiors, where Watson was inspired by what the Swedes call a lusthus. “These were small pavilions the Swedes built on their properties to enjoy the sun and light of summer. They are like fantasy pavilions,” he says.

“This is definitely designed in the style of an 18th-century pavilion, with symmetrical wings and one wonderful open room,” notes the designer, who covered the walls and ceilings with poplar planking, which is typically painted. “I was going to paint the walls, but once the poplar was up, the texture and colors were so beautiful, I didn’t have the heart to paint it,” Watson confesses. Instead, the planks were bleached and finished with a grayish-white glaze that echoes the color of the Texas limestone floors.

“While the pool house is very formal in its symmetry and with the beautiful arched doors, there is something about the wood cladding on the walls and ceiling that gives it the look of a barn interior. It has a less rigid feel,”

A limestone-base pedestal table is centered in the main room under a patinated-silver lantern. “We wanted something grounding the room. I didn’t want everything on legs,” he points out, adding that the table separates the room into two seating areas, one for dining and one for watching TV.

A banquette in the dining area is upholstered in an easy-to-clean plastic-like fabric so people can relax there in wet bathing suits without damaging the cushions. Chairs are upholstered in terry cloth, which is stitched with a custom-designed monogram.

In the kitchen, cabinets rise to the ceiling to emphasize the spaciousness of the room, and ribbed glass on some cabinet doors contributes a vintage feel. There are two bathrooms/changing rooms—one for men and one for women—that open directly to the pool for easy access when swimming.

“I wanted the pool house to feel like a spa,” says Amy. “The great thing is that we made this amazingly beautiful and dramatic pool house.” As Watson puts it: “It is both comfortable and elegant.”

A scaled-down version of its larger counterpart, a St. Louis pool house is a masterpiece in miniature.

The pool house, designed in the style of an 18th-century pavilion, has a definite Swedish flavor. The rooms are wrapped in poplar planking, bleached and finished with a gray-white glaze which complements the pool house’s light-colored furnishings.

The pool house has two baths to provide separate changing areas for men and women. Each is elegantly appointed with monogrammed towels for a spa feeling. The sink and faucet in the women’s bath are from Kohler’s Purist collection.